Just 16 per cent of under-35s would vote Conservative, study finds

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Environment secretary Michael Gove was among a host of Cabinet ministers who emphasised the need to attract younger voters
Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters
James Morris8 April 2019
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Top Tory candidates to replace Theresa May have piled in to stress their desire to attract younger voters after a new study found just 16 per cent of under-35s would vote for the Conservatives.

Centre-right think tank Onward also found only 17 per cent of Tory voters are aged under 45, with only four per cent under 25.

Onward director Will Tanner said the figures highlight a threat to the party’s future as an electoral force.

Mr Tanner, a former aide to Prime Minister Mrs May, said: "Everyone is focusing on Brexit, but the growing age gap in vote intention is a bigger threat to the Conservative Party's future.

Theresa May, pictured leaving church on Sunday, has presided over an increasing age gap between Tory voters 
Simon Dawson/Reuters

"The only way to regain a majority is to focus on winning over a younger generation of voters. If the Conservatives do not, they risk being pushed to the sidelines, unable to govern.”

However, he added there was hope for the party in the form of three million young undecided voters who would consider voting Tory.

And environment secretary Michael Gove, one of the favourites to succeed Mrs May, was one of a host of Cabinet ministers who emphasised the need to attract younger voters.

He said: "It's clear that young people want to see government taking action on the environment. That's why at Defra we are working to improve air quality in the most polluted areas, tackling the scourge of harmful single-use plastics and leading the way in protecting the world's oceans and precious marine life.”

Sajid Javid (Reuters)
REUTERS

Home secretary Sajid Javid said: “Unless we can win over younger and ethnic minority voters we cannot achieve a majority at the next election. It's as simple as that.”

Their potential rivals in the race to succeed Mrs May also weighed in on the need to win over younger voters.

Eyeing up Number 10: Liz Truss
Carl Court/Getty Images

Health secretary Matt Hancock, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, international development secretary Penny Mordaunt, Treasury chief secretary Liz Truss and ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab all pitched their plans.

And a joint statement by 40 Tory MPs from the 2015 and 2017 intakes read: "The next Conservative manifesto must have strong policies to help young people get on in life. It must reach out to all parts of the country and all communities too.

"The Conservative Party is at its best when it is a party for the whole nation."

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